


Blood is Thicker than Water, But Sometimes Blood Just Sucks

by phoenixyfriend



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artists, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It happens off-screen but it's... an element, M/M, Most of them are a little cracky, Multi, Other, There are a lot of things going into this AU, referenced transphobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-08 19:26:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13464948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixyfriend/pseuds/phoenixyfriend
Summary: In which Lotor's related to the Holts on one side and Allura on the other, most of Team Voltron dances, healthy polyamory isnotcausing drama in the dance studio, Rolo and Plaxum start a band, the Galra Gals are artists, and Lotor pays his tuition by doing furry art on commission.It's that kind of story.





	Blood is Thicker than Water, But Sometimes Blood Just Sucks

**Author's Note:**

> Despite the relatively dark opening chapter, this is basically going to be a modern au shitpost in fic form.

Matt knew he wasn’t exactly a consistent sleeper. When he got to sleep before midnight, it was something to be celebrated. His tendency to go to bed at four in the morning and wake up after noon the next day would be his undoing eventually.

He didn’t appreciate getting calls at three in the morning on one of the few nights he’d managed to get to bed on time.

“Mm...” Matt groaned, rubbing a hand down his face. “Yyyyyyyello’?”

“Matthew?”

“The hell?” Matt asked, before a yawn caught him by surprise. “What are you—the fuck are you calling me now for? Do you know what time it is?”

“My father kicked me out of the house.”

 It took a few seconds for that to process, and then Matt was wide awake and scrambling to sit up. “ _What?_ ”

“Do your parents still have a spare room?”

“Dude, whether we had one or not, you’d be welcome here, what the _fuck_ ,” Matt got to his feet and headed for the door. “Do you need someone to come pick you up?”

“No, I... none of my friends have the resources to help me for very long, but I have a friend that can drive me down.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m gonna go tell my parents. Call me again when you’re five minutes out,” Matt said. “I’ll go set up.... I dunno, towels and shit like that. You good for now?”

“Yes, I think... I think I am.”

“See you in a few hours, Lotor.”

“Thank you, Matthew.”

o.o.o.o.o

When Matt was fourteen, he’d asked his dad why they didn’t talk to their closest relatives on that side very much. Sam Holt was an only child, but he’d been close to his cousin growing up. Matt had asked about the situation multiple times growing up, but it wasn’t until the drive back from an awkward dinner, Pidge asleep next to him in the back of the car, that he’d actually gotten an answer.

“Zarkon is... not a good man,” his dad had said. “He’s a career politician, and while he may have started with the best of intentions, he’s been corrupted by the power he’s gained.”

“Oh. What about Honerva?”

Sam had been quiet for a long, long moment, and then sighed. “Honerva was a good woman. She might still be, but she’s sick and... and easily confused, these days. Easily led. She puts up a strong front, but I’m not sure if she even knows what she’s supporting when she backs her husband. She might even be in denial because she can’t handle the idea that he’s changed so much. She also might know exactly what’s happening and just not care. I don’t speak with her enough to know.”

Matt had thought it over for a few seconds. “What about Lotor?”

“If he grows up with even a smidgen of the morals his father once had, it’ll be a good thing,” Sam had muttered.

“That boy’s going to need a lot of help,” Colleen had said, sounding very, very sad for some reason.

“What do you mean?”

“...later, Matt,” Colleen had brushed him off. “You’re young. Let us worry about it.”

He hadn’t.

o.o.o.o.o

 _Hey,_ Matt had sent, still fourteen and trying to figure things out. A chat program on social media seemed a pretty non-confrontational way to contact his cousin.

_Hello, Matthew. To what do I owe the pleasure?_

Matt had bit his lip, considering, and typed, _We don’t talk much, but you don’t seem like a bad dude and the fact that our dads don’t get along shouldn’t keep us from being friends, right?_

_...if you say so._

_Great! I’m not sure what to actually talk about, so... what are you studying?_

It had started like that. It had started as innocuous conversation with family he didn’t really know very well, but wanted to. It had started as him just wanting to figure out what the hell his parents were talking about.

Matt had vented about school a few times, about difficult classes and bullies who were verbal but not physical, so Matt could never _prove_ anything to the teachers and get things changed. He’d vented about the fight he’d gotten into after someone had deadnamed him in the hall, about detention and how the GSA hadn’t done _shit_ about the situation, and so on.

Lotor had listened, when Matt had taken the problems to him instead of one of his real-life friends, like the Shirogane twins, or Olia.

 _A crush?_ Lotor had asked.

Matt had just keysmashed in response, because even _he_ wasn’t sure at this point.

All of it must have done _something_ , because Lotor had eventually confided right back. He’d talked about his mother getting sicker and hospitalized, getting erratic and downright volatile as the radiation poisoning she’d suffered earlier in her career wracked her body, and the doctors tried to stop the cancer from coming back. He’d talked about his father’s violence, mostly verbal, but sometimes physical, any time Lotor didn’t perform perfectly or dared to express an opinion that could be taken as not agreeing with his father.

 _Your sister has been contacting me_ , Lotor had sent at one point. _She wanted some... opinions from an observer that wasn’t as close to the situation._

 _Do I know what the situation is?_ Matt had asked.

_If she hasn’t told you, then I feel I would be remiss to inform you of what she hasn’t._

_Fancy bastard_ , Matt had shot back, punctuating it with a gif of a backflipping shrimp to impress on his cousin that he was only teasing.

Lotor had told Matt about a lot of things, up to and including his investigations into his father’s corruption.

o.o.o.o.o

“He found out,” Lotor said, after Zethrid had dropped him off and he’d gotten settled in, and he and Matt were alone in the guest room. Pidge wasn’t even awake yet, while Matt’s parents were trying to make plans downstairs. “I was so _close_ to exposing it all, and—”

“Dude, you haven’t even graduated college yet,” Matt told him. “You’re not the only person responsible for your dad.”

“I know,” Lotor said. “But I came so close, and now nothing.”

Matt patted him on the back, not sure what else to do. Lotor leaned forward, burying his face in his hands and letting out an exhausted groan.

“Well, my parents are willing to let you have the room until you figure out what you want to do. Family’s family and all that,” Matt said. “What... uh, what _are_ you going to do about college? You can’t exactly commute six hours roundtrip every time you have a class.”

“I have a few weeks until the next semester, but that’s not enough time...” Lotor said. “I think... I’ll need to transfer to somewhere local. I can find a job to pay my tuition, and I have some money stored away, but—”

“Dude, I told you, family’s family. We’ll push you to try for FAFSA and stuff first, obviously, but if you need some help or whatever, we’re here for you,” Matt reminded him. “And hey, it’s a big city. There’s a lot of schools here, and your grades were... what were they?”

“3.94 GPA,” Lotor said, a touch proudly. “I lost a few points to...”

“The ethics class?” Matt guessed.

“No.”

“Theater?”

“...perhaps.”

Matt grinned and bumped their shoulders. “Hey, it’s better than I’m doing. I’m only one semester in and I’ve already got two Bs.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a million ideas for this story and I have no idea how many are going to actually get written. I needed to decompress so... yeah.
> 
> EDIT:  
> Lotor's 19 and a college sophomore, Matt's 18, Pidge is 16. I'll get into ages a little more later.


End file.
